Merry Christmas to All!!!!

What a wonderful Christmas we had this year! It was so nice and not at all rushed! Christmas Eve my parent's came to spend the night with the kids so they could be here Christmas morning (they switch off every year with my sister and I, which all the kids love). Maz and Brons woke up at around 8:30 and so we rushed in the front room to see if Santa came.....and he did!!! Mazzy got some of the things she had asked Santa for and so did Bronson...they were ecstatic! We had a great morning with my parents. After my parents left, Ryan's parents came to exchange gifts and to see what all the kids had got. While they were here Ryan brought me and envelope and sent me on a scavenger hunt for a gift for me, which ended up being in the trunk of Ryan's parents car. Well I was very, very surprised because we haven't bought for each other for a good 5 years or more, we've just spent the extra on the kids and family...he broke our pact....but I was thrilled! He got me a copy of The Living Christ, which I had previously memorized this year and the painting that I have wanted for FOREVER! It actually made me cry! Then after the Ry's parents left we headed to Morgan so that we could go to my Grandparent's and then meet up with Scott and Mist (my sis) to give our combined gift to my parents. Also Santa leaves a toy for the kids at my parents....one that stays at Grandma and Grandpa's house, so the kids are always anxious to get up there and see what else they are getting from Santa. It's a fun tradition. We had an awesome day filled with lots of love and family!! I hope everyone else had a very Merry Christmas!!!

Above: Me with my gifts from the kids and Ryan. Below: Ray and Renee (Ryan's parents) with their gift from us.

Below: Another picture of Morgan Valley as we were driving to my parent's house. I was just really excited about the snow...it always makes me feel like I'm home!

Below: My Grandpa and Grandma opening their present from us...LOVE them so much!

Below: I don't know how well you can see this (click on the picture and it will make it somewhat bigger) but there was a pretty little 3 point buck outside my Grandparent's window up the lane. There has been a ton of buck's and elk I guess come down into their backyard. While we were their we saw 4 elk up on the dry farm.

Below: My parent's with their new digital picture frame from My sister's family and us.

Below: I have titled this picture "If Ryan were a doll....."

Below: Sadly....this is the best picture we got of us at the end of Christmas day. Not very good....but it'll do.

Below: Scott (my brother in law) Wearing Fazoodles on his ears and being a total NERD!!!! Love ya Scotty!

Below: Mist (my sis) and Me laughing at the horribleness of our husbands!!! Don't ask!

Christmas Eve 2010!

Above are all the rugrats in their Christmas Jammies they opened from Grandpa Thayne and Grandma Shell. What a bunch of little hoodlums....so cute!!

AWWWWW, there's my White Christmas! Beautiful Morgan Valley!

Then after the Jones party (sorry I know I didn't post pictures in the order of their true events) We headed up to Morgan for dinner and Christmas Eve presents. I was excited because I knew they had snow up there and down at our house it was brown with not a speck of snow! So the 2 above pictures I took while driving in the Jeep of the mountains...the clouds were hiding the peaks, but it was beautiful!
Christmas Eve usually finds us busy driving around to family get togethers. This year it was the Jones' first for a yummy dinner/lunch, then the annual family skits and then the opening of presents. I wasn't too creative this year with our family skit, so I read a wonderful story about Joseph and Mary. Then some of the family reinacted when Jesus was born while Ray my father in law read it from the scriptures. It was cute, funny and sweet all in one.

Above: Josh my nephew played the important part of baby Jesus. Below: The manger scene.

Below: Mazzy and Grandma Nae

Fun Filled December!

There was the putting up of our Christmas tree...I thought it turned out really pretty...the pictures don't do it justice (Above: All lit up! Below: I had to get a pic my new Nativity under the tree.)

December was a fun filled, crazy busy month. Ryan worked like crazy so he wasn't home a lot to help me get pictures off of his and my phone so this is why these are so late. We did so many fun things...even a trip to see Santa, but I don't know how to scan those pictures in. We played really hard with family and friends and it was so much fun! These are just a few of the things we did this past month. Check out Mazzy's piano recital pieces in a video at the end of this post. I also threw a video of her cute Christmas Play that the whole 2nd grade put on for their families. She was a Christmas Doll and is the first one in the line walking out on the stage. Hope everyone had a wonderful December.

There was Ward Christmas parties that Ryan and I got to play the part of Mary and Joseph (somehow...I do not know why or how!) (Above and below.)

There was making and decorating of cookies for Santa Claus. (Below)

There was the making of a snowman. (Below)

There was making and eating of CHOCOLATE at Grandma Shell's mmmmm!!! Above and below pictures.

There was cookie exchange and crafting parties thanks to the hosts my mother in law Renee and sister in law Gena!!! And all my other sister in laws who were there!!(Below)

There was school class pajama Christmas Polar Express parties with yummy hot cocoa. (Below: Bronson always turns his cup as he drinks hot cocoa and always ends up with chocolate between his eyebrows.)

There was haircuts (Above: After)
(Below: Before and the pile of Bronson's hair we cut off.)

Below: A trip to Temple Square with the Young Women and Young Men. Ryan proposed to me in front of this statue and Temple Square so I had to take a picture.

There was piano recitals. (Below: Misty (my sis aka Maz's piano teacher) and Mazzy.)

Fall Happenings!

Holy technical difficulties the past couple of months.....Our camera broke so we have been using our phones to take pictures....and then we couldn't get our pictures to download onto the computer....so therefore this is why this post is so late! We got things working correctly anyhoo...well the computer anyways....we'll have to get a new camera. We have had such a fun busy fall! Here are some pictures to prove it! The above picture is Bronson aka The Leaf Monster! This is what I get when the kids play at my parent's house....thanks Grandpa Thayne for having so much fun with the kiddos!

(Above: The kids tried to bury themselves, but it just turned out to be a cute picture moment. Below: Mazzy's turn to be covered in leaves!)

Halloween has come and gone....can't believe it's Christmas time and I am just now posting Halloween stuff. Mazzy was a Ghost Bride and Bronson was a Werewolf. It was a complete down pour for a while, but we waited it out and got to go Trick-or-Treating in just a soft drizzle. It was fun even for the fact of rainy/cold weather! Don't be fooled by Mazzy's face....she was happy....but she had to pull her scary ghost face for the pictures....because Ghost Bride's are not happy people, as we should all know!

(Above: Mazzy and Bronson got their faces painted the other night so I thought I'd throw this pic in just for fun....Bronson chose 2 lightsabers glowing, and Maz obviously chose a butterfly....they were sad to wash them off.)

On October 15, Ryan got to celebrate his 33rd birthday!!! Our friends the Vincent's came over with this very special gift for Ry. Footie Jammies!!! As you can see, he was too tall for them and couldn't get them zipped up all the way, but man was it ever good for a LAUGH!!! Haven't laughed that hard in a very long time! The above picture is Fred trying to help Ryan zip up his jammies....it just looked too funny so I had to snap a picture. Thanks Ry for being born....I LOVE YOU!!!!

The firestation was having a family night for kids to come and tour the station and play around in the fire trucks....learn about fire safety...all that good stuff, so we took the kids and they had a blast! They got to crawl through a "smoke simulator" and do an obstacle course and at the end BLAST the fire hose!!! Fun times!!!

(Above: This is the only picture we got of Bronson, not very good, he was zooming by us way to fast and Ry wasn't quite ready to take the picture, he's the one in the top right of the picture...don't have a clue who that other kid is.)

The kids' school puts on a jog a thon each year to raise money for their school. This year Bronson finally got to participate in it. He did such a great job. They have the kids ask family, friends and neighbors to donate money, either a flat fee, or a certain amount for each lap they run. Then all of the kids in the school run for 1 hour. Bronson did a great job! He ran a whopping 19 laps!!! Towards the end, we could see him slowing down, walking a little bit, and then when he'd get close to where we were he would start running really fast and give us the thumbs up, and as soon as he'd pass, he'd start walking again.....like he was fooling us into thinking he was running the whole time...it was quite funny! Mazzy ran 23 laps beating her time last year! They had so much fun, and it was fun to see them so into it!!!

(Below: Bronson on red ribbon week, with his cool rockstar glasses from school.)

(Below: Mazzy with my "Where's Waldo" wig, just being silly.)